[Introduced February 22, 2013; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §61-7-6 and §61-7-6a of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to allowing a
resident of another state to carry a handgun in West Virginia
if the person holds a valid permit or license to possess or
carry a handgun from the other state.Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-7-6 and §61-7-6a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.§61-7-6. Exceptions as to prohibitions against carrying concealed
deadly weapons.
The licensure provisions set forth in this article do not
apply to:
(1) Any person:(A) Carrying a deadly weapon upon his or her own premises; nor
shall anything herein prevent a person from(B) Carrying anya firearm, unloaded, from the place of
purchase to his or her home, residence or place of business or to
a place of repair and back to his or her home, residence or place
of business; nor shall anything herein prohibit a personor
__(C) From possessing a firearm while hunting in a lawful manner
or while traveling from his or her home, residence or place of
business to a hunting site and returning to his or her home,
residence or place of business;
(2) Any person who is a member of a properly organized
target-shooting club authorized by law to obtain firearms by
purchase or requisition from this state or from the United States
for the purpose of target practice from carrying any pistol, as
defined in this article, unloaded, from his or her home, residence
or place of business to a place of target practice and from any
place of target practice back to his or her home, residence or
place of business, for using any such weapon at a place of target
practice in training and improving his or her skill in the use of
the weapons;
(3) Any law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement official as
defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this
code;
(4) Any employee of the West Virginia Division of Corrections
duly appointed pursuant to the provisions of section five, article
five, chapter twenty-eight of this code while the employee is on duty;
(5) Any member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the
militia of this state while the member is on duty;
(6) Any circuit judge, including any retired circuit judge
designated senior status by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West
Virginia, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney or
a duly appointed investigator employed by a prosecuting attorney;
(7) Any resident of another state who holds a valid permit or
license to possess or carry a concealed weaponhandgun issued by a
state or a political subdivision which has entered into a
reciprocity agreement with this state, subject to the provisions
and limitations set forth in section six-a of this article;
(8) Any federal law-enforcement officer or federal police
officer authorized to carry a weapon in the performance of the
officer's duty; and
(9) Any Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority Ranger
while the ranger is on duty.§61-7-6a. Reciprocity and recognition; out-of-state concealed
handgun permits.
(a) A holder of a valid out-of-state permit or license to
possess or carry a concealed handgun as issued by another state
with which the State of West Virginia has executed a reciprocity
agreement shall be recognized asis valid in this state for the
carrying of a concealed handgun, if the following conditions are met:
(1) The permit or license holder is 21 years of age or older;
(2) The permit or license is in his or her immediate
possession; and
(3) The permit or license holder is not a resident of the
State of West Virginia. and(4) The State of West Virginia has executed a valid and
effective reciprocity agreement with the issuing state pertaining
to the carrying and verification of concealed handgun licenses and
permits issued in the respective states.
(b) A holder of a valid permit or license from another state
who is authorized to carry a concealed handgun in this state
pursuant to provisions of this section is subject to the same laws
and restrictions with respect to carrying a concealed handgun as a
resident of West Virginia who is so permitted, and must carry the
concealed handgun in compliance with the laws of this state.
(c) A license or permit from another state is not valid in
this state if the holder is or becomes prohibited by lawthe laws
of this state or the United States from possessing a firearm.
(d) The West Virginia Attorney General shall seek to enter
into and may execute reciprocity agreements on behalf of the State
of West Virginia with states which meet the following standards and
requirements:(1) The standards applied by the other state before issuing a concealed handgun license or permit must be similar to or greater
than the standards imposed by this article;(2) This state's law-enforcement officers have continuous
access to databases on the criminal information network,
8twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, to verify the
continued validity of any license or permit to carry a concealed
handgun that has been granted by the issuing state;(3) The other state agrees to grant the right to carry a
concealed handgun to residents of West Virginia who have valid
concealed handgun permits issued pursuant to this article in their
possession while carrying concealed weapons in that state; and(4) The states agree to apprise one another of changes in
permitting standards and requirements, to provide for a prompt
reexamination of whether any adopted change in licensing or
permitting standards negates the states' ability to continue with
the reciprocity agreement.(e) The West Virginia State Police shall maintain a registry
of states with which the State of West Virginia has entered into
reciprocity agreements on the criminal information network and make
the registry available to law-enforcement officers for
investigative purposes.for the recognition of concealed handgun
permits issued pursuant to this article.
__(f)(e) Every twelve months after the effective date of this
section, the West Virginia Attorney General shall make written inquiry of the concealed handgun licensing or permitting
authorities in each other state as to: (i) Whether a West Virginia
resident may carry a concealed handgun in their state based upon
having a valid West Virginia concealed handgun permit; and (ii)
whether a West Virginia resident may carry a concealed handgun in
that state based upon having a valid West Virginia concealed
handgun permit, pursuant to the laws of that state or by the
execution of a valid reciprocity agreement between the states.(g)(f) The West Virginia State Police shall make available to
the public a list of states which have entered into reciprocity
agreements with the State of West Virginia.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide full faith and
credit to nonresidents who have permits or licenses to carry
handguns in their states.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.